Today will be the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Among the most anticipated athletes in this edition of the Olympics, there is definitely Rafael Nadal. The Spanish champion will participate in his last Olympics, where he hopes to achieve a good result in singles and doubles (Former world number 1 will play alongside his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz).
In the last few hours, there has been some bad news about Rafa’s condition. The 22-time Grand Slam champion was supposed to train with German Alexander Zverev yesterday, but he was forced to cancel practice due to a right thigh injury. The Spanish veteran has had to deal with several injuries again this year, which should be the last of his legendary career. Nadal was unable to play the Australian Open and the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, while he did not shine in Madrid and Rome.
Rafa did not have a favorable draw at the 2024 French Open and was eliminated in the first round by Sascha Zverev. Nadal has been training hard in the last few weeks to be ready for the Paris Olympics and played the Bastad tournament last week, Reaching the final but losing sharply against Nuno Borges.
During the post-tournament press conference, Rafa admitted that he was far from his best level and that he had to improve in order to be competitive at the highest levels.
Rafa is in doubt
The next few hours will be decisive to see if former World No.1 Rafa Nadal can participate in the last Olympics of his career. “He had some discomfort yesterday (Wednesday) morning,” his coach Carlos Moya told Spanish radio. “In the afternoon he was more limited and before it got worse he decided to stop. Don’t force it at the moment and see if he recovers well,” Moya added. “We will see what condition he’s in tomorrow and Saturday. He already rested on Monday, he came from a tough week in Bastad, and on Tuesday we resumed very slowly, very calm, knowing that, well, there was fatigue. Yesterday [Wednesday] was a very good day, both training singles in the morning and doubles in the afternoon, in the afternoon we could already feel that little problem and, well, we decided that the best and most coherent thing to do was to rest, to have treatment at the villa, to rest and give him time to recover”.
The Spanish legend is expected to start on Saturday in doubles with Carlos Alcaraz and Sunday in singles against ATP veteran Marton Fucsovics. Interviewed after his last training session, Fucsovics admitted he had a chance against this version of Nadal: “I have mixed emotions. I’m not happy because he’s a tough opponent, but I’m proud to be able to play with Rafa in the Paris Olympics, on the Philippe Chatrier. I’ve never played against him before, so it’s going to be a special moment. It could be one of my last chances, so I’m also being proud of that. Obviously I’ll have to prepare, with a good game I can surprise him, he’s not in his best form yet.”
Latest update on Nadal
In case of a victory against Fucsovics, Rafa could face his eternal rival Novak Djokovic. In the press conference before the start of the event, Nole spoke about the possible challenge against the Spaniard: “Yeah, I mean, obviously he (Nadal) hasn’t played much and his ranking drops. So, you know, there’s always going to be that possibility of meeting him in early rounds and there we go, you know, it’s going to be a spectacle.
Definitely, if we get to meet, expect some fireworks on the court. Like the good old times. I hope we get to meet because there will probably be one last dance for both of us. All the respect to Rafa, of course, he’s just, he was injured and everything, but he’s always the king of clay and what he’s done here in Roland Garros is unprecedented. So I can’t wait to step on the court with everyone is so excited for it.”
A match between two legends like Djokovic and Nadal would perhaps be the perfect conclusion of an iconic rivalry, started 18 years ago (precisely at the French Open). Rafa is very close to retirement, while Novak has said several times that he still enjoys it and wants to continue playing. The Serbian is not playing in his best season and has not won a title this year. According to the latest rumours, Rafa could give up singles and focus only on doubles if his body is not 100%.
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